THE MISPERS

The Mispers are a new band with a nu-folk sound, but here to stay longer than that genre’s vogue

All photos by Alex Fakso

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Tell us a little about The Mispers, how did you guys come together?

The Mispers came together under hugely pedestrian and uninteresting circumstances. Some say love brought us together, others say fate. Oh wait no we’re not in a Zac Efron romcom. The truth is, we had all been waiting for an opportunity like this since we were kids, so I guess luck and boredom would be the key elements here.

How would you describe your music to someone who’s never heard it?

That’s a difficult question that we always struggle to answer. Above all the music is energetic, both physically and emotionally. In terms of comparisons, we’ve had so many thrown our way and none really stick. There are folk elements to our sound but any die hard folk fans would probably cringe if they heard we’d been placed in that category. Everyone has a different take on it, so we’ll just let people decide for themselves.

What are your main musical influences?

Maccabees, Bombay Bicycle Club, XX, Phoenix.

Who writes the songs? Is it an organic group process or is there a main songwriter amongst you?

We started off with Jack and Joey writing the main body for each song and then everyone else coming in. But the more we rehearse the more organic the sound is becoming and this is due to the changes in processes regarding the song-writing. Now we enter the jam factory all systems go, and that’s where most of the new tracks have come from.

We hear you’re been very successful very quickly on the London scene, do you think the climate is just right for The Mispers at the moment? How do you compare yourselves to the likes of The Lumineers/Noah and the Whale and (sorry!) the much maligned Mumford & Sons?

Things have picked up really fast yes so there must be a Mispers gap in the industry. People find it hard to describe our music, because it is different to what’s out there.

What kind of crowds have you been attracting to your gigs so far?

Mainly very close relatives and paid models. Kidding, we get all sorts at our gigs. Makes for non-stop excitement, there’s always a new character. Some edgy man from Japan or something who somehow heard a track and gets rowdy in a solo mosh-pit.

And finally, what’s next for The Mispers? Where can we hear you play?

We’re playing a few festivals over the summer – Hogsozzle, Kendal Calling and FolkImPark (a lovely folk festival in the South of Germany) and have some London gigs in the pipeline (Lexington: May 24th, Cargo: June 14th). But mostly we’re writing and laying down our tracks for the first EP.

The Mispers will be playing at The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Road, N1 9JB on Friday 24th May, doors 8pm.